Traveling almost 7km to the west of Chau Doc Town, An Giang Province, you will have a chance to see the 230m-high Sam Mountain with beautiful landscapes and many historic remains. The mountain is considered the main attraction in Chau Doc

Sam Mountain is the highest mountain in the Mekong Delta. The mountain is a tourism complex in its own right. It is a ‘holy’ mountain, full of caves, shrines and temples. The most significant in religious terms is the Ba Chua Xu Temple, dedicated to the ‘Lady of the Region’. Her festival is held in the spring. It attracts huge numbers of devotees and, of course, swarms of vendors hoping to make a killing.

Less important, but more interesting, is the Tay An Pagoda. Its architecture is sometimes described as Hindu/Muslim, which is a bit fanciful. However, there’s a definite Chinese and Islamic influence, and the interior contains a small army of colorful effigies.

View from Sam Mountain

Climbing the peak is, of course, the highlight of a visit to Sam Mountain. Sam Mountain offers a spectacular view over the surrounding. There is a military outpost on the summit, a legacy of the days when the Khmer Rouge made cross-border. The outpost is still functional and the soldiers are quite used to tourists taking photos now; however, you should ask permission and perhaps ply the soldiers with cigarettes before taking photos of them or anything that could be considered militarily sensitive.

Walking down is easier than walking up, so if you want to cheat, have a motorbike take you to the summit. The road to the top is on the east side of the mountain. You can walk down along a peaceful, traffic-free trail on the north side which will bring you to the main temple area. The summit road has been decorated with amusement-park ceramic dinosaurs and the like. However, there are also some small shrines and pavilions, which add a bit of charm and also remind you that this is indeed Vietnam and not Disneyland.

People from all over Vietnam make the pilgrimage to Sam Mountain. If you are in Chau Doc, it is worth a visit.